Top five Startup Trends in 2017

Trends to watch out for in 2017

Startups in India have been riding through a sinusoidal wave since last two years. The previous year has seen the death of many high decibel startups. This move comes on the back of slowdown in funding. Now investors are also in two minds before they put in their money. Hence, they are closely watching the viability of their businesses.

However, that doesn’t stop entrepreneurs to think ‘out of the box.’ They are always at it with robust business model, great concepts to solve customers’ problem. A product lead startup does well in such turmoil.

We have seen a lot of startups bee lining domains such as food tech, payment gateways. They also followed healthcare, e-commerce, hyperlocal, fashion and lifestyle sectors last year. Let’s have a look what’s trending this year:

Wearables

This has caught the fancy of the youth and all gadget freaks. The segment broadly deals with smartwatches, activity trackers, headphones and headsets, smart glasses, sports watches etc. Using the concept of IoT and AI, wearables can take pictures through your goggles and directly upload it to Snapchat. Activity trackers can measure your BP, blood sugar, pulse rate and help you to monitor the same. Globally wearables segment is expected to grow around $34 billion by 2020. Many startups have already started venturing into this space.

AR and VR

Needless to mention, how Pokemon Go made the world go crazy last year. And that’s how the potential of AR and VR is tested. Many MNCs are now experimenting with AR and VR technologies and startups working on this domain are servicing their clients. And that’s the reason why Facebook acquired Oculus Rift VR at $2 billion, a couple of years ago. AR & VR can give splendid customer experience and is used more and more in healthcare and e-commerce sectors.

Chatbots

Chatbots are here to stay. It’s now been conveniently and efficiently used by almost all mid-sized to large sized companies. These pre-programmed bots engage customers in friendly discussions and help them resolve their queries. Advanced form of Chatbots are used as virtual shoppers and to understand consumers’ purchase behaviour. Unlike an office employee, chatbots are available 24/7 for customers. IT startups are gearing up to develop intelligent Chatbots for their clients.

Cyber Security

With more and more companies fighting it out in the cyber space, the upkeep of the same is a huge opportunity for the IT startups. With huge volumes of data, a company’s prime objective is to protect the same. These data thefts can cost a company dearly, both in terms of reputation loss as well as revenue downturn. Startups are using AI to spot the anomalies and fix the data theft and secure information for their clients.

AI, IoT and Machine Learning

Artificial Intelligence is the future. Companies are using AI to map consumer behaviour, purchase pattern, provide sales lead, improve TAT and what not. Every company now wants to have Consumer intelligence using AI, IoT and Machine Learning. Startups working on these domains see spikes in their revenue in the coming years. Research firm Gartner predicts that by 2018 as many as 62 per cent of big business houses will use some form of AI to get an edge over its competitors.

Which startup trend do you like the most in 2017? Do share your views.